Apples and Pies

Finally, cable internet!! Can I express my happiness with any more enthusiasm? Happy happy joy joy!! I've been busy trying to catch up with my listservs, get in touch with people, and in general do the things I couldn't do before. Boy, now I feel like I'm part of the human race again!

One great thing about having cable back is using Skype. If you haven't downloaded and used it... well, I like keeping my money, and I love talking to family and friends who are scattered all over the world.

I took the camera out on the walk today, and got a couple of shots of the orchard on the street behind us. They are starting to pick these huge red beauties, so this is a sight which won't last much longer. Across the highway, on a hill several blocks away is a lavender farm. The lavender is blooming, and the hill is one big rolling blanket of colour. Gorgeous! But too far away to get a good picture. I might try to drive over there and see about getting a picture (and smelling the lavender!).

While we were out we saw a large group of Canada geese migrating south. Must have been over 100 of them. They were a long way up, but you could hear them honking. Like, no one is in the way. Who are they honking at?

Yesterday I sat and watched what appeared to be a bald eagle riding a thermal over the valley. Sure wish I had a good telescope for bird watching. Sadly we found the broken little body of a white throated sparrow in the dog run today. It looked like maybe it had been hit by a predatory bird but had managed to get away only to die later. We picked it from the path and gave it a proper burial. I hate to see little things suffer.

We saw a sick sparrow picked off by the magpies at the feeder last winter. It was during a spell of intense cold, -30 for several days. One evening this little bird huddled on the feeder at dusk rather than taking shelter. I felt so badly, but there is nothing you can do for them. By mid-morning it had become too weak to hold onto the feeder and had fallen to the ground. One of the big magpies swooped in, grabbed it and broke its neck in an instant.



People say pies are bad, and eat songbirds, but I've never seen them attack (or even harass) a healthy bird. They evidently do raid nests in the spring, but squirrels clean out magpie nests and eat their babies too. (And some of us eat lamb and veal and suckling pigs.) Read the story of the magpie we raised and released into the wild. He was so smart, and such a character. In this picture he was sucking my finger, just like a puppy. It was how he comforted himself when he was upset or scared.

Now how did I get going on that? Never mind.... just think cable internet.... oh boy....

Caught in the Act!

First, some pictures for the far-away, since I can't send attachments with the ding-dong web interface I have to use for mail right now. First: Red Chief the rascal. I finally caught a picture of him trying to break into the dish cupboard. He is absolutely relentless. Now I have to keep the tie-down on all day.

Then a few pictures of the inside of the tin palace, as lived in. But the simplification continues. In the last few days we've packed away about half of the books, pictures and doo-dads we brought out to begin with. We just found that there was too much visual stimulation in this small space. Less is better.

Reorganizing the contents of the cupboards seems to be an ongoing process. The cupboards are 24" deep, so this thing gets put in front of that thing, until you need that thing, when you have to move this thing to get at that thing, and so and so on and dooby dooby do do.... At least when you misplace something there are not too many places to look for it.

But triumph! After almost two weeks of trying to connect with the cable company we finally managed to get arrangements made to have cable internet installed late in the week!! We're looking forward to having real internet service again.

Red Chief and I saw 50 or more quail on our walk last night. They were all in a huge flock, on the ground, in the dog run. Must have been a quail convention. Four or five families, Mom, Dad (out front, everybody runs after him in a line) and eight to 12 kids. They much prefer to walk, and wait until the last possible minute to take to the air.

We saw one family go back through the chain link fence behind us a few days ago. (See picture of Himself above for a view of the fence under discussion). It divides the RV park from the property of the former owners. Their garden is spectacular, with wonderful flowers, trees and huge bunches of pampas grass. Anyway the Papa quail decided to move from our side of the fence to the other side. He slipped through one of the holes and his family followed, except for one little guy who was not paying attention and got left behind. When junior saw everyone else on the other side of the fence he panicked, running up and down the fence line squawking and bobbing, unable to find the perfect hole in the fence to slip through. Then all of a sudden he stopped running and simply flew to the top of the fence and over. It just shows how much more attuned to living on the ground they are. They really remind me of small chickens.

And that's it for the day!

Smarter Than Your Average Cat

After two days of weakness and general yuckiness I felt better yesterday and was able to attend to tasks which have been piling up.

We figured out how to hang the small (18" x 24") electric panel heater. We'd initially thought we install it on the cabinet to the immediate left of the door, but it was clear that this is not a good spot, as the heater would be subjected to too many traffic hazards. There is not one other unoccupied 18" x 24" spot of wall in the entire trailer. It has to be hung six inches above the floor, away from windows and doors. The mounting brackets keep it one inch from the wall.

This took some thought. There's no reason the heater can't be moved, it's just a 1/4" thick sheet of cement board with heating coils embedded in it. It looks like a piece of white wallboard except that there's a cord coming from it and it has four holes for the mounting brackets.

So I bought a metal towel rack that hangs over the top of a door. By running picture wire through the top two holes we can hook the towel rack over the lip of the lower large drawer about halfway down the length of the trailer and hang the heater on it, just like a picture. When it's not in use we can pick it up and slide it into the pantry. Pretty nifty.

We installed the larger of the two heaters, the 24" x 24" one, on the back wall between the two beds. It's great except that it pumps out a lot of heat, too much for these nights when the temperature doesn't drop lower than five or six degrees. We have to keep turning it on and off, which is a bit of a pain. The smaller one doesn't put out as much heat, and since it's not so close to us, once it cools off enough to need heat (5:00 - 6:00 am) we can just turn it on and leave it on. It draws 1.8 amps of power and costs about a cent and a half an hour to run.

Next item on the agenda. The dern cat has been driving us mad. He is absolutely the worst tease on earth. Once he figured out he could get a rise from us by trying to get into the dish cupboard over the kitchen counter he has been a huge pain. He's fine during the day, but as soon as the lights go out he's at those doors. I've been putting two bungee cords over the door handles, but worried constantly that he'd work one of them loose and a hook might hit him in the head, eye, etc.

We temporarily dissuaded him by putting him in his cat carrier when he would jump up on the counter and start scratching at the doors, but by the third night he was very blase about that. He'd be quiet as a mouse and the minute you let him out and crawled back into bed he would be back at the cupboard doors.

I was desperate for a decent night's sleep. Night before last I wet paper towels and laid them on the counter, because he hates getting his feet wet, but he just concentrated on the area over the sink, where he could stand on the dry edge. ( damn!)

Yesterday I happened to think of the tie-down straps we bought to secure the fridge in place for the trip. They have a hook on each end, but tighten with a buckle (like a seat belt) and are not elastic. So I hooked a hook into the handles of the outside cupboard doors, ran the tie-down across the middle doors and pulled it all tight.

He looked at it with great interest and jumped up to investigate. I didn't say a thing, or scold him. He shoved his nose right up under the buckle, trying to loosen it or get it to move. No luck. He was puzzled when I ignored his pulling on the doors and strap, he kept looking at me and making little question noises. ("What? You aren't gonna yell at me? Not gonna jump up and grab me? Whassup with that?!! You tryin' to ruin my fun?")

After a minute or two he gave up and jumped down on his own. He had to dash around and jump on things generally, but that's fine. I don't mind that, it's just that one set of cupboards I was worried about.

The funny thing is that at bedtime he curled up on my feet and slept the entire night, except for wanting food when I got up at 3:00 and 5:00. I have learned something. Today he decided to see if he could get a rise out of me by jumping on the shelf above Tony's bunk where we have our prayer bowl and altar. There's not much room and he had to squinch himself to do it, but he was eyeing me and expecting a scolding. I just looked the other way. Oh, actually I tried to take his picture up there, but he got down before the shutter caught him. He hasn't tried again.

I always suspected I was smarter than yer average cat, and now I know I am! (Or at least I think I am. Pride goeth before a fall. He may open the straps tonight and break every dish in the house.)

10,000 Steps, in a Cat Carrier

Another cool, rainy day. It's warm inside, with the heater on, but this is the first day we've kept it on once the morning chill had been chased away by the day. Today the sun must be elsewhere chasing chill, because at 2:00 pm we're still only 11 degrees.

It was sunny and beautiful yesterday. We had a busy day. We went to town and did the weekly shopping. Tony took the cat out for walkies three times, and I took him out once. It wore us out but didn't seem to dampen the cat's ardor for naughtiness. As soon as the lights went out he was pulling at the cupboard doors. We did what we did the night before. We stuck him in his carrier.

The carrier is a big plastic box, with ventilation slots on the top and sides, and coated wire doors on each end. He begins by scratching at the latch. When he can't jiggle the latch free he rolls over on his back, puts his feet against the ceiling of the carrier and runs in place, essentially turning the carrier into an upside-down treadmill. He runs till he's tired, rests a while then runs a while longer.

We wait until he's expended a fair amount of energy, then, during a quiet period we take him out of the carrier. He has a snack and then curls up to go to sleep. Well, it's one way to exercise him. He doesn't even seem to mind! He still goes right into the carrier when we open the door and last night he didn't even waste time trying to get out, he just made sure the door was closed and set off to get his 10,000 steps in.

Cats are weird.

Vague Indefinite Riches

I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite - only a sense of existence. ... How I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite riches. No run on my bank can drain it, for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment. Henry David Thoreau; On Man and Nature

I am going to go out and take some pictures. I hadn't done it until now because of the smoke. But now the smoke has cleared and it's time to show you what our surroundings look like. The park is sparsely populated at the moment, maybe half a dozen units. The guy at the end of our row lives here permanently and has done so for seven or eight years. The people across from us look pretty settled as well. A couple of units are closed up during the week and are used only at the weekend. One brave couple is in a large tent and a pickup with a canopy. It was only five or six degrees last night. I wouldn't have wanted to be in a tent.

At sundown yesterday, while I had Salvador the monkey cat out for his evening "walk" we discovered a huge grape vine growing on the fence nearby. The grapes are huge and absolutely ripe and sweet as kisses. Haven't tasted grapes like that since the last time I picked my own. I brought a stem back for Tony to enjoy.

Now, about Salvador's "walks". There must be a better word for what we do. He drags me, and then I drag him. He runs as if his tail's on fire, then flops down and refuses to move. He dashes up a tree and then can't figure out how to get down. I have to coach him on how to retrace his steps - every time. He rolls onto his back and thrashes back and forth in the grass like a dog. He investigates the many loonie-sized holes in the grass and makes his "smells good" face. Are these mouse holes? Too big... no dirt around them so they can't be moles.... I'll have to ask.

This morning, despite a chilly start, was just gorgeous. Crystal air, brilliant sun, cool breeze. I took the rascal out for his morning stroll and had to yard him back after half an hour, with him threatening to bite me all the way.

Naughty cat! At about 4:00 am the sound of clinking china woke me up. He'd managed to somehow stand on the kitchen counter and open the top cupboard, where I keep the (breakable) dishes. I caught him rocketing out of the cupboard, fluffy-tailed and triumphant. I smacked him and did the grasping-the-neck-skin dominance signal that cats recognize from kittenhood, when mama cat used it to teach them what was, and wasn't, acceptable behaviour. But he's a strong personality and he's determined to get back in those cupboards. Why? - other than the challenge of course. There's nothing there of any interest to a cat!

What an adventure! But it looks like we'll have to find a way to cat-proof the cupboards or I'll never get any sleep.

Down Time

Time to take a breath. The last few days have been very busy. We've worked pretty much non-stop and have tired ourselves out. Today we are laying around doing lots of nothing.

It's cool today, so far (at noon) only 13 degrees, and it's raining off and on. We're comfy inside. We've switched the panel heater on a time or two to chase away the chill.

I heard our neighborhood covey of quail calling to each other last evening. Is it only in the southern US that we imagine they say, "bob white bob white"? We saw them this morning, 12 of them this time, pecking their way across the grass under the fruit trees in the space behind the trailer. The young quail are as big as their mother, but she stills leads the line, and she stood up, alert and watchful, while the young birds fed. I got a picture of a couple of them, but it's hard to say if they are quail or rocks. Only a quailologist would know for certain.

We saw a squirrel yesterday and we definitely get whiffs of skunk in the evening. Cathy says a skunk lives under one of the older cabins. So we are surrounded by small wildlife, little creatures who have learned to coexist with man. This suits me fine. I'd just as soon live in the woods, but since that's not practical I'll enjoy having the four-leggers visit me.

Later in the day I'll make the trek to the clubhouse to check my mail, and then I'll have a nice shower and soak in the hot tub... doin' lots of nothing is a good way to spend the day. :)

Time to Reconsider

I was sitting here Saturday night, minding my own business (which as anyone who knows me well is a rare occurence) when I heard a huge BANG!!. My first thought was that one of the dozens of water bombers, helicopters or fire-related light planes had crashed very close by. Then I thought maybe the propane tank on someone's RV had blown up. Then I thought I'd best get out and see what was actually going on, in case someone needed help.

No flames or smoke was apparent, so that was a good thing, but there was a flashlight or two bobbing down in the motel parking lot and lots of yelling. These motel rooms are part of the Bel Air complex and are only about 100 feet from our site.

As I arrived I saw that a small (12 ' x 12' maybe) building adjacent to the row of motel rooms had the corner knocked out, and a sagging roof. Further on, down an embankment, was a late model Ford, its rear end resting in a sling of the chain link fence which surrounds the resort.

A couple of the men were helping an elderly, somewhat confused, lady from the car and up the embankment. She was insisting that she could get in the car and drive it away, which was obviously not possible. She didn't seem to understand what had exactly happened, but didn't appear injured.

James and Cathy Hodge (a super young British couple) own and run Bel Air and by now Cathy had called an ambulance. We managed to get the lady to sit down and I tried to distract her with a little conversation. When the ambulance arrived they checked her over, and I assume she was fine. I left shortly after they arrived.

Today (Monday) the car was pulled out of its self-made nest by a tow truck with a winch. There was a big chunk of concrete and a pipe from the fence wedged underneath that took both James and Cathy's dad Dave to move, once the car and it had been separated. I'm betting that Ford won't be going anywhere under its own steam soon, if ever.

How did this dear little soul get herself in such a mess? Well, she had dropped her friend off and was turning around. I suspect she thought she put the car into drive, when she actually slipped it back into reverse. When she hit the accelerator she zoomed backwards at a good clip, hit the corner of the building and kept right on going - backwards.

Talk about a time to reverse your decision. This was one.

Unpackin' an' feudin'

Lemme see. Yesterday we hauled out a couple of the boxes from the truck and I started trying to find places to put things. Things like family pictures, artwork, office supplies, and general crap. I hung a couple of pictures and put some family photos where the cat is not likely to knock them over when he does a midnight dash-around.

We found a place to put the office supplies and Tony's file boxes. It wasn't an entirely bloodless process but we were both tired and cranky. There was one file box which was 1/2" too big for any of the spots I wanted to put it. He wanted to just stick it on a shelf, where it hangs over the edge. We almost had to get out the dueling pistols before we finally found a home for it. The only place it would go was right where he did (and I didn't) want it. Well, I guess you shouldn't end a 42 year marriage over the placement of a file box. (I've learned I'm not as good at compromising as I am at getting my own way. Hmmmm, maybe I should work on that, but then I like getting my own way! That's no surprise to anyone who knows me.)

We've been trying to figure out if we're missing anything we left behind yet. We couldn't think of a thing. In fact there were things we'd brought that neither of us think will be useful. We were so tired we were blind those last few days.

Today the unpacking process continued. We hauled boxes out of the truck, which is a very difficult endeavor for two short people. Poor ole Tony has to crawl up into the bed of the truck and yard the boxes out by brute force. Of course everything we needed to unpack was at the very front and the things we don't need now were between us and them.

But he hauled 'em out and I sorted and put away, hung pictures, found batteries for the clock and smoke alarm, found the carbon monoxide monitor and the calendar. So, we may not know much but we now know what day and time it is. Maybe. There were two big boxes of books and music, my research materials for a couple of books I'm working on, plus a box of odds 'n sods. I ended up packing up a large box of stuff culled from the other boxes and that was put back in the truck. (Will this never end?)

The place is looking like home now though, with family photos, a few favorite paintings and gee-gaws, and surprisingly there's still room to tuck more stuff away.

After dinner I left the dishes to rot and headed for the hot tub/pool. I did a round robin of hot tub/pool/hot tub and came out pink as a spanked baby's butt and relaxed as a wet string. I could get to like that hot tub.

This is a hard life. I would wish it on my best friend. ;)

Nighty-night

A Garden Hose?

The RV repairman came yesterday afternoon. He pulled back the metal covering from the underbelly of the trailer, hauled out the soaked insulation (bah humbug!) and soon discovered the source of our leak.

At some point in the past few years the copper pipe which carries water to the kitchen sink must have developed a leak. So the previous owner, in a fit of "use what's at hand", replaced it with a section of garden hose.

Now, you must understand. The water system in this trailer pressurizes itself, and the pipes have to be able to withstand a healthy dose of water pressure. So this garden hose must have struggled manfully to do the job for a season or two but finally gave it and exploded. Wunnerful.

The RV guy will return today to replace the hose with copper pipe, replace the ruined insulation and reattach the metal underbelly to the trailer. I hate to think of the bill, but at least it wasn't a holding tank or the water tank. Replacing either of those would have been a catastrophic expense. Especially the water tank, which is stainless steel.

On the plus side, I love our tiny 30" x 40" bathroom. You almost have to back in if you plan to sit on the avocado green "throne", and the sink is teeny. What I love about it is that the entire bathroom floor is molded into one piece and forms a shower pan. So when I go to clean I scrub then simply pour water over, around, and behind, the toilet. I can wash the entire thing down and everything goes out the drain. I've joked for years about wanting a house I could simply hose down inside, well, at least I can do that to the bathroom here!

And, just to make you green. I'm writing this sitting outside on the lawn, under an apple tree which is loaded with apples. The temperature is perfect, the breeze is heavenly, the birds are singing and a few come to have a shower in the sprinkler from time to time. Ahhhh..... this is the life.

The Rules of Living in a Small Space

We hear a rooster in the mornings, greeting the dawn with a time-honored "karck-a-doodle-doo", but this afternoon we had the distinct pleasure of a visit from a neatly turned out Rhode Island Red hen, picking her way across the grass. Our spot borders a row of houses, and one of them obviously has a flock of chickens. I love chickens, and to have one as a visitor is an unexpected pleasure. I took her picture, rather poor quality but through screen wire, and she was in deep shade with brilliant sunlight between me and her. At least you can see it's a chicken - I think. Idn't she cute?

Tony just asked how I'm finding housekeeping in the trailer, as opposed to keeping house in the apartment. I've wanted to live in a small space for a long time, for both ecological and philosophical reasons. As Peace Pilgrim said, "Consume to your level of need."

In general I think we need a great deal less than we consume. I think of all the stuff we left behind, and wonder why we even had much of it. Most of it was rarely used, some of it was never used. I may purge again within a few weeks. But I'm finding that the rules of living in this tiny space are:

• Immediately clean anything you've dirtied.
  
• Immediately put away anything you've used, in the same place you took it from.
  
• Dump the waste tank every day.
  
• Make sure you have clean water to drink.
  
• Make sure you have "Wet Ones" and paper towels. I never used disposable paper products at home but they are a necessity now, at least until we get our running water back.
  
• Walk the rotten cat at least three times a day to try and wear him down so he'll sleep at night.
  

So far the last rule hasn't worked. The Red Rascal woke me at least 10 times last night, wanting to play, wanting to smooch, wanting to snack, wanting to go outside. Today I'll walk him more often, and hope he sleeps tonight.

He's clever though. The mornings are quite cool, down to seven degrees yesterday morning. I turned on the electric panel heater yesterday at about 5:00 am, and this morning the cat wanted me to turn it on again. He kept jumping on it and meowing at me until I got up and turned it on about 6:00 am. He then curled up in his box near the heater and slept.

I am enjoying using things I hardly used at home like my flower bowls, and the pretty cups and my beautiful pinwheel quilt. It's easy to have a beautiful small space with very few things. We haven't had the energy to dig out the box with the pictures, so the walls are still bare, but I suspect we will hang about a quarter of what I brought. More would seem overkill. Guess we'll rotate pictures.

So far the experiment in small space living is going well. Except for the internet and e-mail aggravation we are doing well.

To Give Away:

One naughty highly nocturnal cat. Arrrrgghhhh..... I'm considering making a rug from his hide. All I want is a good night's sleep. All he wants is to play, smooch, eat and chat all night long.

He let me sleep till 2:30, then it was show time. He didn't settle back down until 5:30. I am soooo cranky and tired today I could bite the heads off kittens, one kitten especially.

I need to get up and clean, because one thing out of place looks messy and two things out of place looks slovenly. Also need to either boil water or get up the moxy to drive to town and buy water. Either challenge is more than I want to face right now.

Who'd have guessed that you can get as crabby in a dream home as in a rented condo?

The Kindness of Neighbours

I went into town and grocery shopped yesterday afternoon. That little Oliver Super Valu is a great store. I got all my sushi fixin's, plus a box of cous cous for Tony. Oh, and a teeny container of coffee flavoured Hagen Daas. Okay, so we start our diets after we finish the ice cream.

To tell the truth we are both still really tired. We slept over 12 hours last night. Went to bed at 9:00 pm and slept until 9:30 am. Tony says he's still bouncing from the trip. I'm just tired from working so hard these last couple of months.

Aside from the broken water connection, everything works well and we are very pleased, although I still am unable to send e-mail for some reason, and I have to go to the clubhouse to get a web connection. We may opt for cable service just to fix that problem. It's a royal pain in the behind not having internet service.

There's still lots left to unpack, but none of it is essential to life and limb, so it can wait until I am more rested. I spent 30 minutes talking to our neighbour lady to the east this morning, and didn't worry that I should be working, cleaning or just involved in some kind of busy-ness.

Our neighbour to the west came over for a visit, and returned five minutes later with a half flat of Roma tomatoes. Mmmmmm, we will be eating fresh tomatoes for dinner, and snacks, and breakfast and lunch and snacks and....

We are moving at a slower pace and savoring the quiet. We haven't hooked up the TV or turned on the radio. The news is irrelevant. People can kill each other by the hundreds at home and abroad without our attention, they've been doing it despite our fretting anyway.

What's important right now is the kindness of a neighbour, the unhurried visit and the steady, soothing drone of the fan.

A Covey of Quail

I've posted messages for each of the previous four days, so if you are desperate for a blow by blow account of our trip, you are in for a "treat". By the by, we're now on Oliver's Municipal Wi-Fi. While I can surf and recieve e-mail, for some reason I can't send it, even with a hotmail account. Can't figure it out. Any help appreciated. I assume we can commune through the messages function on blogger, but maybe not.

We felt badly about leaving Bill the bunny and our many bird friends behind in Calgary. But this morning we discovered that we have a covey of quail in our back yard. Big Happy! They are so cute, with their topknots and the bobbing way they walk.

I've spent the day unpacking and putting things away, a process that will take a couple of weeks, if not longer. We haven't gotten around to calling the RV repair guy yet, but will. Maybe after the long weekend.

We have to drink bottled water anyway, so for now we carry water for other purposes in a gallon jug from the spigot 10 feet from the front door. If we want hot water we have a kettle and a stove. There are showers here, so we won't even be trying to shower in this two by three bathroom. The toilet flushes with a cup of water, and washing dishes in a pan takes three or four cupfuls. As of mid-afternoon we've used a total of one and a half gallons. (Bet you used that much to brush your teeth this morning.) This kind of living is easy on the earth for sure.

The electrical system works fine. I brewed coffee with our little four cup coffee maker this morning. The only appliance we have running on AC right now is the fan. So far we've used only the DC lights, which are powered by our solar panel. We should look for an adapter so we could charge the phone, computer and any other battery-operated devices on DC.

This is very comfortable. The mornings are chilly, but a sweater and long pants are enough covering. By 10:00 am it's shorts time. Today it's supposed to be 30 degrees C., so far we've never been uncomfortably warm. That roof coating Ian put on has made a huge difference in the amount of heat that comes through the ceiling. They promised a 20 degree difference, and they were telling the truth.

Thursday's Child is Loving and Giving

The trailer must be a Thursday's child. What it loves to give is headaches! Ian worked out how to light the furnace and water heater, and how to dump the waste tank.

Somewhere along the way from Blairmore we lost our sewer hose and had to go to town this morning to buy another. We got it back to find that the end of the hose and our connector didn't match. It took four trips and a great deal of fiddling and duct tape to get the hose hooked up.

And, because we did not know that this trailer has only one tank we accidentally overfilled it and it backed up into the bathroom. (Newer trailers have a grey water and a black water tank. This one has a tank, period.) I got to clean up the overflow. It's a mistake no one with any sense of smell makes twice.

Mid-afternoon Ian's friends Julie and Susan arrived to pick him up, and he was off with a hug and big grins. What a sweet guy.

An hour later a neighbour knocked on our door to ask if we knew that the bottom of our trailer was pouring water. No we didn't!!

From what we, and our neighbours on both sides, can deduce, we have ruptured a water connection under the trailer, but, because the belly is entirely enclosed we can't say for sure. We have the phone number of an RV repair guy and will call him tomorrow.

So we are boondocking as far as water is concerned. No one drinks the water here anyway. They've been under a water advisory for the last two years. The water looks like milk and smells like... well, it smells funny.

I haven't been able to send mail yet. I can receive e-mail on my regular account, but can't get it to send. I may have to resort to a G-Mail account if I can't get it to work. The wi-fi doesn't work in the spot we are parked in (now they tell us!). This means I have to go to the clubhouse to connect to the web. So I won't be checking mail every few minutes. I may check twice a day if I'm ambitious. :)

However nothing can dampen our spirits. This is a magnificent place to park, the weather is glorious. It's sunny, breezy, with fruit hanging in the trees all around us. Even the cat is happy and has discovered numerous places in the trailer that were (apparently) designed just for him.

Thanks to the help of friends and family we're finally here! Whoooopeee!!!!!

Wednesday's Child is Full of Whoa!

I began Tuesday with a hot shower. Wonderful, wonderful. We pulled out of our little provincial campground, drove into Castlegar and stopped at the Tim Horton's to use some of the lovely gift certificates Mandy's Mom, Carol, gave us as a bon voyage present. Thanks Carol! That cup of coffee brought me right back from the almost dead.

Then it was time to climb out of the ditch Castlegar is in. This hill and descent were unexpected, and almost as bad as the big Crowsnest Pass the day before. Every town on the route turns out to be the same, down at the bottom of a ditch. You have to slide into town on your tail feathers and sweat like Richard Simmons to get back out again. The countryside is beautiful but we must have gone up and down five miles for every mile forward. It was 4:30 before we finally pulled into Oliver. Three days minus a half hour. Lordie. Next time I'll walk.

We got busy setting up the trailer and at about 8:00 we went into town for a bite of dinner. We found a very plain pizza joint which sold very yummy pizza by the slice. After that we went to the grocery store and learned that Oliver has the world's best grocery store in a very compact floor space. They seem to have everything under the sun, in a quarter of the space of the Safeway nearest our place in Calgary. I love it.

A Passing Grade

11:00 pm Tuesday night. We are parked in a little provincial campground a few km outside of Castlegar, BC. Beautiful place, way off the road, so it's quiet. In the morning, while walking around, we discover a hornet's nest in a nearby barrel. The hornets are clustered on their nest, sleeping in the cold wet morning. Very neat!

The plan was to make it to Oliver today, but halfway through the day I realized that I'd told the RV resort that we'd arrive on the 30th - and today is only the 29th. Oh bliss. That gives us an extra day.

Believe me, we needed that extra day. We parked last night near Blairmore, so we'd be fresh before we tackled the big pass over the Rockies at Crow's Nest Pass. This is a big mother father of a hill, and the truck, which has now been named "Bouncing Betty" did only 40 km an hour up the steepest sections.

Coming down the other side was mighty exciting. Now Betty wanted to go 125 km an hour, and also fly, but Ian's firm hand on the gears and excellent use of the brakes kept us to a manageable speed. Just barely. (Later we realized that we'd had no trailer brakes during this entire descent. Gulp.)

We thought we were over the worst of it but when we made the turn for Castlegar we were right back on an 8% grade for km after km. It took us all day to make a couple of hundred km. By 6:00 pm we were knackered.

We stopped at the Visitors Centre in Castlegar to ask about campgrounds. They were closed. Their map was next to useless. We drove around an hour looking for a campground. It was getting dark when we finally found a provincial park - no electricity (no real problem) and no running water (damn). The campsite last night had no water either, so we are now on day three since our last showers. We don't smell so good and the gents are getting very fuzzy. But there's a single shower at the entrance to this campground, which Ian is enjoying right now. Tony and I will shower in the morning as we are too tired to walk that far tonight.

It's only about 225 km to Oliver, hopefully we *will* make it there tomorrow. Meanwhile, carping aside, this is a lovely spot. Heavily treed, with frogs peeping in the background and the perfume of wood smoke in the air. The leaves are rustling in the wind, the temperature is absolutely perfect and the only other sounds are the muted-by-distance voices and laughter of other campers. sigh

Windmills and Combines

We left Calgary Monday the 28th at 5:00 pm sharp. We figured rush hour traffic would be terrible, but we experienced no delays. In 40 minutes we passed the Calgary City limits sign headed south.

You see "Hottie Doggie" in all her blue striped glory here, parked in the Blairmore Municipal Campground our first night on the road. The other picture is the mountain just across the way. We'd been in rolling prairie to this point, from here out would be mountains. But there surely is no place more breathtakingly beautiful than southern Alberta in late August. The grain is ripening gold against green, the farmers are out cutting hay, laying it out into maze-like patterns across the fields. The distant mountains break against the sky like waves of purple stone.

At sundown we reached a little town called Blairmore which had a municipal campground. No services, other than a dumping station and a water spigot, but it looked mighty good to us, as tired as we were. Trucks roared by all night, as we were right on the highway, and none of slept as well as we'd hoped, but we were awake early and ready to get on down the highway. Little did we know what we were getting into.

Monday ACK ACK ACK!!!

This morning we emptied the freezer and fridge, I washed them out, we washed the windows and I mopped the kitchen floor. Then it was out to the trailer to get everything stowed and ready to roll. Ian went off to get the propane tanks filled, we sorted and stowed until we were cross-eyed. It will be weeks before we find everything and make order out of chaos.

But on the positive side, there's loads of storage space in the trailer. The rotten Red Chief has already adapted to the trailer and is finding it exciting to look out the windows at the many birds in the trees around us.

Ian is home packing his necessities for the trip, then I will go pick him up, we'll gas up the truck, hitch up and we are out of here. A little later than we'd hoped, but we'll soon be on our way.

Our Criminal Adventure

We worked very late Sunday night. It was a long day period, from 8:30 am till well after midnight. We'd finally gotten it down to cleaning out the fridge and doing a quick clean of the kitchen when we all collapsed and decided enough was enough.

Ian left for home about 1:00 and we headed out to go to bed in the trailer. We were just dozing off when lights started playing across the front and side of the trailer. Both of us thought it was headlights from a car coming down the lane.

A minute passed and the light shone right in the front window (and no where else). Almost immediately the door was yanked open and a man poked his upper body in the door.

I said, "Ian is that you?" No reply. He stepped inside.

Tony said, "Ian, is that you?" No reply, but the guy stopped. Tony yelled, "Hey! Get out of here! and the guy bolted out the door, down the side of the trailer and off through the back garden.

By that point I had dialed 911 and had the police on the line. I told them we had an attempted break-in, but the guy had bolted. They said they'd have someone here in two minutes.

About 30 seconds later the HAWKS police helicopter was overhead and began sweeping the area, in another couple of minutes two squad cars arrived, one a canine unit. Once they found out which way the guy had gone they took off after him.

A woman officer took a report, and within a few minutes she said they'd apprehended and arrested a suspect who could give no good reason why he was prowling the neighborhood at 1:30 in the morning with a flashlight.

HAWKS had awakened me up several times early Saturday, sweeping up and down our block. And this seemed a rather robust response for a guy who'd already hightailed it. Maybe he'd been working the neighbourhood.

Anyway, my cell phone paid for itself last night, but for some reason I had a little trouble sleeping.

So I Lied...

Since Shaw is so generously providing i-net service I'll post again from Calgary. I'll show you Tony's bunk - this pulls out to a double bed.

The furniture is all gone from the house, so we spent the night in the trailer. Very comfortable. It got down to 10C and we were still fine without heat. The solar panel was kicking energy into the batteries all day yesterday and the DC lights work very well. As long as we have sunshine we may never use an AC bulb.

Now we're surrounded by stuff that still needs to be packed, as well as stacks of boxes which will have to be carried out to the trailer and truck as the day progresses. I have to pack the dishes and whatever food we take with us. With the exception of breakfast we'll probably eat out on the way. Pack some snacks into the truck, along with the cat, his litter box (a regrettable necessity), water, etc etc.

But time's a wastin'. We're hoping to leave tomorrow (Monday) morning and arrive on Wednesday. We are in no hurry. We've had no time to relax for months, the holiday begins when we pull out of the driveway.

Until We Light Again...

A very quick post to say that we are in the final throes of purging, packing and cleaning. We lose our internet connection tonight, so I won't be posting again until we are resettled.

Until then, a few pics, as of this morning.

Salvador helps Mama pack.

The back side of the trailer, couldn't get a view of the front - too close to the garage.

The dinette, and the back bunks.

What About Friday?

The day started too early for me. I wanted breakfast in bed, a long hot bath and a mid-morning nap. What I got was a bowl of cold cereal poured by myself, no bath (we had no water courtesy the construction crew down the street) and a nasty backache.

Oh well, enough about me. Ian was here shortly after breakfast, installed the tie-down for the fridge and we continued the clearing process. Good grief!! We could build a small house with the stuff we have left over from this project!

It took us until almost 2:00 to get things squared away and the trailer hitched up. The tire store is only eight-ten blocks away, so it was a quick trip. Ian was very adept at maneuvering the trailer. He pulled it like a pro. The tires ($600.00) were on in about two hours, and we had the trailer back in the driveway by 4:00.

We learned in this short shakedown cruise that we had forgotten to put drawer sliders on two drawers, and that the pantry and closet doors need an extra catch each. Otherwise everything travelled without incident, even though we bumped up and down several rough back lanes en route. Ours is like a mine field and Ian had to circle the tire store via the lane to pull into their bay.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Tony has been sorting out the contents of the office. This is a job for the strong of heart. Thank goodness he's tackled it while we were busy with other things.

We've decided that our new departure date is Monday the 28th. There's just no point killing ourselves to get out of here a day earlier.

Obviously I'm Not Psychic

Or I'd have known that we were not going to be able to get the trailer in for new shoes today.

Ian left work at noon, and was here by 12:30. We realized that we couldn't move the trailer without first installing the tie-downs for the fridge. And, we have to have towing mirrors and (okay, we're trailer virgins) we didn't know if the main battery has to be in place for the trailer lights to work. Time to shop....

$300.00 and an hour later we had two batteries, towing mirrors, a toolbox and a bag of brightly wrapped candies for the glove box. Not that the glove box will eat them, but that's where they are going until we hit the road.

By the time we got back to the house we realized there was no way we could get the necessary work done (including clearing all the tools and loose junk from the trailer) in time to get the trailer in before traffic time. So we called and rescheduled for tomorrow.

That left time to .... shop!!! All the stuff I've been putting off buying. A smoke detector, a fire extinguisher, light bulbs, cushy cupboard lining which keeps things from sliding around as you corner, velcro to hang pictures with, pillows (many pillows), throw rugs, hardware, battery covers, a black water tank wand (you don't even want to know, trust me, but in an RV you are up close and personal with your own effluent. Those little holding tanks get mighty high if they aren't washed out after they are dumped.) Let's just say that $400 worth of stuff went out the door and that it took two carts.

Back home we dumped the stuff into the trailer and went to work. Ian started installing batteries and reinstalling the platform for the propane tanks. Inside Tony and I busied ourselves trying to sort out tools and clear the decks.

Friends and fellow Buddhists Wendy and Yoshiko arrived at 7:30 for a lovely visit and a chanting session. We've been so busy that we've had little time to meet with our district members lately. I'm going to miss this little extended family.

After Wendy and Yoshiko left we resumed work, but all any of us were doing was going in circles, accomplishing nothing at all. We decided to eat and call it a day. Maybe tomorrow we can actually get those tires on.

Thank God for Friends!

The theme (if theme there be) of this post must be friendship. During one of our last visits Ian took a picture of good friend SMM and the two of us with SMM's camera.

Ian and several of his friends plus Mandy's parents (Bill and Carol) and her brother Dan arrived about 7:00 pm last night to help. These same friends helped us move into this place about two years ago. Ian has fantastic friends. The guys moved the furniture. Bill and Dan hung the remaining heater in the trailer while Carol and I packed china.The place is almost empty now except for ginormous dust balls and some nervous spiders. We're left with a bookcase, a bed, two chairs and a wobbly old table which will go into the alley when we're done with them. Oh, and piles of flotsam and jetsam we don't quite know what to do with. Thrift store, brace yourself.

Thank God for friends!

Today we continue going through stuff, separating what goes from what goes out. We clean. We shop. We take the trailer to get its new tires. Time to get moving.

It Was Groovey in the 70s baby!

This morning finds me on the heating pad. I finally gave in and took two pain pills so I can get up and be useful. Right now I can only cripple around while moaning like an old cow. My legs want to go on holiday right now.

Here's a reminder of what we started with. While lying here I have been channel flipping. I watched about five minutes of Candice Olson's "Divine Design". I now realize we aren't the only people in the world who were faced with classic 70s design. In this episode she was hired to redesign a huge walk-out basement that still sported its original 70s decor. It could have been our trailer, ten times larger. Maybe they had the same decorator.

Their carpet was orange and rust. The trailer's original carpet was still in place when we got it - orange, yellow, white and rust shag. Yummy! Where we had yellow, brown, green and gold stripes on the upholstery, they had them on two walls. Their other walls were wood paneling. (I believe we have discussed wood paneling here before - that's what got us into this mess to begin with.) They had smoked unframed mirrors attached to the wall, we had smoked unframed mirrors attached to the cabinet faces.

The only thing the trailer lacked that this big room had was a floor-to-ceiling fireplace of red brick. Guess it would have been too heavy to drag along. But there must have been brick wallpaper they could have incorporated somewhere! In fact I remember shopping for just such an insult to nature myself, when Zak was a baby. The only thing that kept me from "bricking" our living room wall was the price of the paper. It would have looked nice with the orange and rust rug, the green upholstery and wood paneled walls we had then. I have always been interested in interior decorating. I've just lived long enough to know that what's tres chic today is ghastly in five years time. Best not follow the trends too closely.

Ian has a host of friends coming tonight to help move furniture. Mandy's Mom Carol is coming to help me pack the antique china, that's going to live with Mandy and Zak. I'm so happy they are taking it. Some of it has been in the family for four and five generations and it would be a shame to send it to auction.

I need to shop but also have to clear a dresser of clothing before tonight. All I want to do is curl up and go to sleep. What I need is for those wretched pain pills to kick in and for a big shot of energy to zap me from outer space. Where are the Aliens with the zapper guns when you need them?

It Might as Well be Pretty

We all need a good long holiday. This has been a very busy couple of months and we are all very tired. Tonight we (mostly Ian) got the carpet secured to the floor and about 75% of the quarter round put down. We decided the rest of the quarter round can wait till we get to BC.

During the day Tony and I sorted, purged and packed. Everything we take has to work for its living, but we don't have to use plastic or paper dishes, just because we're in a travel trailer. I've packed my four favorite porcelain teacups. We have to take cups and saucers, they might as well be pretty.

We also took the bedding out and made the beds. I'm using the quilt my dearly loved friend Jackie made for my birthday last year, shortly before she passed away unexpectedly. It's a very colorful pinwheel quilt, made with floral prints and bright pastels. Doesn't exactly match our colour scheme, but I want it with me.

The truck got its maintenance today, and we ordered new tires for the trailer. They will be expensive, but can you believe it appears that the original tires on still on it??? They still have tread on them too, but the sidewalls are cracking, which is not a good sign. We'd rather spend the $$ than risk having a tire come apart on us on the way.

I have a big list of "must gets" before we go. We have to get ready to have most of the furniture hauled out tomorrow, so I'm not sure I'll have time or energy to shop. But for the first time the "to gets" list is longer than the "to do" list. So we're making progress.

If I Were Two Ones...

I'd get more done. I cleared the trailer of the piles of tools and construction debris this afternoon. I threw away the debris, but the closet and pantry are stuffed with cans of paint, tools, and various construction moosh. We pulled in the cushions for the couch/beds in the back. Everything got a dust and vacuum, in preparation for carpet laying. I also put another coat of paint on the hitch.

It was 31 degrees C. (approx 88 degrees F) today. The trailer has been very uncomfortable to work in any time it was that hot, even with the vents and all the windows open and two large fans running. The roof coat has made a huge difference. I didn't turn on the fan until the temperature reached 28 or 29 degrees. I opened the back windows about 3:00, but never did bother to open the front windows. It was cool and comfortable inside all day.

When Ian arrived tonight after work we set to work measuring and laying the carpet. It took us about two and a half hours to get it measured, cut and laid, but tomorrow we should be able to secure it to the floor and put in the quarter-round moldings.

We ended the day at 10:30 by dropping the truck off to be serviced. There's a list of maintenance which needs to be done on it before we can hitch up and go.

The list on the trailer is beginning to look manageable, but tomorrow and Wednesday will be devoted to packing so Ian and some friends can move furniture on Wednesday night. I'd like to be twins right about now.

What Light Through Yonder Tunnel Break?

It was a perfectly beautiful day. Perfect temperature, a bit of a breeze, cloudless.... and we got lots done. Ian got the second and third coats of roof coat on. The difference in temperature in the trailer is very apparent. Any time the temperature has been over 20 degrees we've had to open the vents and all the windows and turn on a fan to be comfortable. Today it was 23, which is not hot, but we didn't even open the vents in the trailer until mid-afternoon, and we never needed a fan.

Besides finishing the roof, we also put up the bracket up for the TV, painted the hitch, fibreglassed the water intake port (which was cracked), caulked several spots which needed attention, worked on the breakaway and charging systems, and even did a bit of bodywork on the truck where stone chips had rusted.

While doing all this we managed to find time to head off to our local sushi spot for a big mid-afternoon nosh. SMM will be jealous. Don't worry. I ate enough for both of us. :)

Ian brought a stack of boxes and carted home some art and small furniture. He's proposed that we try to spend Thursday night in the KOA campground at the city's western edge, just to give the trailer a shakedown and make certain everything works properly before we leave town.

In the pre-decision inspection we paid for the dealer stated that all plugs and lights in the trailer worked. But when we started replacing old fixtures we discovered that there was no way many of them could have possibly worked, as they weren't even connected. Most been taped together and had come apart, some had burned wires.

The breakaway cable was rusted through, and the wires leading to the DC motor it activates were corroded and only loosely globbed together with electrician's tape. This important safety feature would not have worked should it have been activated, and it was completely overlooked by both the dealer's inspection ($175.00) and the safety inspection we paid $150.00 for at Fountain Tire. I'm not impressed. We also paid to have the roof repaired, and it still leaked. So, our confidence level in the dealer's service department is not as high as it could be. Hence we feel a shakedown is in order to make certain all the other systems they "certified" actually do work.

Tomorrow I'll clear the trailer of tools and materials so we can lay carpet tomorrow night. Also have to arrange a servicing for the truck, a visit to the vet for the cat, and find a place to inspect our propane tanks. Then there's more shopping, more more... I will be so glad when we can stop buying things. But, we can see light at the end of the tunnel now. It may just be a train headed our way, but I'm hoping for the best.

The Ford Philosophy of Colour

Henry Ford said, "They can have a Model T in any colour they want, as long as they want black."

Well, we found that the carpet warehouse subscribes to the Ford Philosophy of Colour, except their colour of choice is beige. There are three hundred shades of beige and they had a roll in every one of them. They had one roll of "bluish" carpet, of such abysmal quality and design that no one in their right mind would have wanted it. Even their salesman admitted it would be best used as a drop cloth.

So, we hove ourselves to the Home Depot. They announced our arrival on the loudspeaker as we entered the store, presumably to allow the sales staff time to hide. But, praise all Cosmic Forces, they had a roll of blue, acceptable quality, carpet. It's not exactly what I wanted but I was desperate. We also bought underlay (underlay, underlay, arriba!!!) and several hundred dollars worth of other odds and ends. We left there loaded to the gills.

I was up and painted the second coat on the light blue stripe before 10:00 am. It dried like lightening and two hours later I put a coat of varathane over it, to give it more gloss and protect it a bit. Ian arrived about 11:00 and began working on the roof. We now have to hope it doesn't rain until this first of roof coat is dry. It was drying fast, as the roof was too hot to touch with a bare hand.

Tonio, who has finally recovered from his long spell of weakness induced by too much activity, sat outside in a lawn chair, soaked up the sun and supervised the cat and the painting.

Unfortunately the directions on the can of roof coat were optimistic about the coverage. Using their calculations we should have had lots for two coats, but Ian barely managed to finish the first coat with one gallon. So, as soon as he finished we headed off to buy another gallon, and some other stuff we had forgotten before. Will this never end?

Now Ian's off to get ready to attend the wedding of two friends, and I'm gathering the energy to go out and do more. There are several small jobs we could do, if we can get up steam to do them.

I just realized there's no beige anywhere in the trailer. We've taken it from seven shades of brown, dirty gold and dark green to ice white, pale apricot and blue with stainless steel accents. Looks pretty sharp.

Aversion Therapy

Finally a mover who returns calls! Whooppee! We've arranged to get the stuff we're sending to Vancouver moved, even though it will have to live with Ian for a week before the mover picks it up.

The landlord, bless him, has agreed (for a price) to get the carpets cleaned after we are out, so I don't have to worry with that. He's a funny guy, early 40s, very dapper and with Bollywood good looks. He seems to have realized that the suite is in high demand, and between yesterday and today I noted that the price he's quoting lookers has gone up by $100.00 a month. He's now jumped it $300 a month more than we have paid the past year. I'm glad we're not staying!

Tony and I patted the wolves down by hanging the full-length mirror and installing the light above the sink, so we are down to a few jobs inside. We might have done a couple more things, but we couldn't figure out how to get the grinder off the drill.

The major job of the day will be to buy carpet. I went to the only carpet shop in this end of town and all they carry are samples. I have no time left to order stuff and wait for it. Guess Ian and I will have to go to the big carpet warehouse all the way across town tonight. My longing for material goods is rapidly diminishing through the aversion therapy called shopping.

The Hour of the Wolf

Three a.m. is known as "the hour of the wolf" because that's when all your anxieties rise up with gleaming teeth and attack you in your soft little underbelly.

We have eight days to go and it's hard to see how we are going to be ready. Ian had a large cyst removed from one of the fingers on his right hand yesterday, another removed from his wrist and two removed over his hipbone. He was in a lot of pain when he arrived here at 6:00 pm (now yesterday). He couldn't bend his finger for the swelling. We picked up the cushions, ran one other errand and he went home at 7:45.

This doesn't bode well for getting things done. I still haven't bought the carpet, or found a mover who will return my phone calls. We still have to seal the roof - the most important outside task, but the sealant can't get wet for 48 hours and we've not had two days in a row without rain lately.

The remaining "decor" items I can put off until we are settled in BC, but the roof and carpet can't wait, nor can the tiedowns for the fridge and MW. There's a list as long as my arm of "to buys" yet; towing mirrors, smoke, carbon monoxide and propane detectors, a new fire extinguisher, batteries, various and sundry plumbing supplies, more paint (it appears our goal is to buy at least one litre of every type of paint manufactured in North America). We'll come out of this with half a can left over of about 10 different kinds of paint. Every surface requires its own coating.

The wolf has chewed its way through my innards. I'm going to go drink some Maalox. For some reason I have a stomachache.

You Want My Stuff? You Can't Have it!

Ian and I picked up the cushions from the upholsterer tonight. They look nice, a bit hmmm puckery in some places, but that material must have been the pits to sew. It's very stiff and thick. It should wear like iron and hopefully the cat's hair will slide off of it.

I painted for a while, got the second light blue stripe painted and put a second coat on the panel in front of the trailer. It looks good in the two colours of blue. I'm thinking of looking for a finish coat to put on the stripes, as the finish is more matte than the ivory-coloured siding and I want it to shine baby!

But we started the day housecleaning. I'd let things go inside while I've been working outside. I did a thorough clean last week, and Tony's been keeping up with the laundry and dishes while I worked in the trailer, but I'd let a lot slide. So there was a bit of panic when the landlord called at 10:00 am to say he'd booked showings for the afternoon and evening. Tony vacuumed the kitchen floor and took care of garbage and cat's box. I mopped the kitchen, gave the bathroom a quick going over, dusted, and did a general straightening.

There's an acute shortage of rental housing in Calgary and the first lookers arrived by 2:00. There was a steady stream from 3:00 to 4:30. The last set made me quite uncomfortable. All the others had been couples or young women. This was a set of two young men, early 20's, who looked and acted like street toughs. They weren't the least bit interested in the apt. They were simply looking at our stuff - i.e. casing the joint.

This is a bit ironic. While I'm looking to get rid of stuff I'm pretty sure what they were most interested in are things I'd just as soon keep. Maybe I'm just being a nervous Nelly but my spider senses are tingling. I'm keeping my cell phone close at hand tonight, and we will leave some lights on. We also warned the upstairs neighbour, because he's moving too and the landlord took them through his place while he was at work.

Hopefully they didn't see much that they could easily fence. Oh, somebody tell me I'm being an overanxious old ninny....

Waiting For the "Simple" Part

I did a lot of wandering around with a glazed look in my eyes today and I wasn't doing any kind of walking meditation. I just didn't know what to do next! I'm still waiting for the "simple" part to start.

I made some necessary phone calls and cleared out a couple of drawers, but when it appeared that the forecasted rain wasn't going to happen I went out and started painting on the stripes again. I got the final (fourth) coat of dark blue on the top stripe and the first coat of light blue on the bottom stripe on one side and the large front panel. Thankfully the light blue will cover in two coats, rather than the four the dark blue took, or I may be hanging onto the side of the trailer as it is pulled down the highway, paintbrush in hand and bugs in my teeth.

That's all that got accomplished today. Ian had long-scheduled minor surgery today and was not up to renovation tonight. (Honestly, the lengths some people will go to to avoid turning a few screws!) He offered to go shopping with me, as there's still a long list of needed supplies, but I was too tired.

The upholstery shop called about dinner time to say that the cushions are finished and ready to be picked up, so maybe we will do that tomorrow night. I hope to get the rest of the painting done tomorrow and move on to something else. I'd love to get the interior work done once and for all so I can start loading stuff from the house into the trailer. Right now the trailer is a fancy tool shed!

Reminder to self: Do NOT Forget Your Meds!

I have Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis and I am, as a rule, meticulous with my meds. I can't remember when I last missed a dose - until yesterday when I was busy painting and forgot my noon pills. I have to take them with a full meal, so it was only after dinner that I realized I'd not taken the noon dose. In the end I took one less dose of one med, but it is the one which makes me hang onto potassium and I'm sure feeling it today.

My muscles feel as if they weigh a ton and I'm having trouble moving with any speed or precision, i.e I'm having an abortive attack. If I'm not careful these can evolve into an episode which need hospital treatment and since I don't want to end up in the emergency room I've spent the morning watching videos, rather than working on my task list. ACK!!! ACK!!! ACK!!!

But we had a very productive weekend. Zak was a tremendous help, and we are very close to finishing the interior. Zak and Mandy's brother Dan began working on the exterior on the weekend. It's now been washed, waxed, the back "bumper" and hitch cleaned of old paint and rust and repainted. Ian did the hitch last night, removing all the equipment and hardware, grinding off the rust and painting the hitch. He found a serious glitch in the safety system. The emergency breakaway was only loosely tied on and was completely corroded. The wiring was missing much of its sheathing, and had been "mended" with great wads of electrical tape. (tut tut) That has to be rewired and fixed.

I painted the top stripe (of two) which run down the long sides of the trailer yesterday. Royal blue. Very nice. The bottom stripe and the coloured area in the front will be a lighter blue.

Zak left for home early this morning. Having him here was wonderful. We're so grateful that he came. We had a good visit and he really moved us along the way toward completion of the reno project.

Now I have to relax and drink potassium solution by the litre, and try to get myself better.

Bill the Bunny

I took this picture of Bill the Bunny through the office window. We were very happy that Zak got to see Bill, who is an Arctic hare. Bill hangs out under the big fir tree just outside our office window for a couple of hours three or four days a week year round. He was there this morning, just chillin' out and occasionally washing his face or ears. He is grizzled brown in the summer but in the fall he begins to develop white patches. By the time we have cold weather he's entirely white except for the tips of his ears, which are black. I startled him by accident one day and he cleared our lawn and the street, landing on the neighbour's lawn across the street, in two magnificent leaps. He's something I'll miss about this place.

Today was both a work and shop day. We started the day by priming the icky brown and gold stripes on the trailer. Tomorrow, assuming clear weather, we'll paint those stripes two shades of blue.

Once we'd done the painting we headed out to shop. The largest purchase of the day was a stainless steel fridge. It looks very good. :) Things are coming together, bit by bit.

The Wonders of Youth and Strength

I have picked up a stomach bug and was down with it yesterday. I got very little done. Thankfully the young men of the family came to the rescue. Though Ian was committed to photographing a wedding in BC this weekend he came over yesterday afternoon and spent a couple of hours working before he had to take off. Between him and Zak they got the mini-blinds hung. Zak assembled and attached the shelves above the couch/bed units in back. These will give us a place for books, CDs, DVDs, small baskets for socks, undies, medication, etc.

This morning Zak (bless him) gave the carpets in the house a good vacuuming, a job that usually puts me down for two days. He washed doors and did some general helpful "getting ready to move" stuff before lunch time.

Shortly after noon Mandy's Mom (Carol) and 22-year-old brother (Dan) arrived. Carol brought a wonderful lunch which everyone enjoyed. I even managed to eat a bit of turkey and some cherries without feeling sick. Once we'd eaten and had a good visit Carol went on her way, leaving the 6' 4" Dan to help Zak. Honestly, one forgets what can be accomplished by young strong men in only a few hours. I was amazed as they scrubbed the trailer down, rinsed it and waxed it in less than two hours. It looks so much better.

Zak sanded the back bumper down to bare metal, so we can repaint it. Had it not been raining they'd have gone on to caulk the seams and prime the stripes, but the weather is cold with intermittent rain, so the caulking and priming must wait for a sunny, warmer day. Inside they hung a heating unit, and insulated some hard-to-reach areas. Dan volunteered to come back next weekend to help Ian, which I know Ian will appreciate. Some jobs just take two sets of strong arms.

I did some painting (shelves) and finished and hung the front curtain panels. They look really nice. I love the colours, the motion of the waves, the koi.... all of it I guess.

In the end we ran out of jobs we could do without shopping, but we made a lot of progress. I can see the thing actually being finished in time now. Still have loads to do in the house, but more progress has been made than is visible. Cupboards and closets are cleaned out, and we've done a lot of purging. I still don't know what I'm going to do with all my research papers. Three books in progress, all with attendant research... But how do I justify three bank boxes of documents when all we have to store our clothes is one drawer each and a 16" wide closet which we have to share?

I have to think quick. It's only two weeks now. But today, even though the Trailer Gremlins took to the field, we came off 10 to 1 in favor of the Home Team.

All Things Take Time

Kitty was the typical nocturnal naughty cat in the night. He woke me at 4:00, 4:30 and 4:45, trying to lick the skin off my chin. He snuggled me, he pulled at my hand to get me to pet him. He was charming and sweet. Then he grew naughty and became determined to leap on top of the cupboard adjacent to the bed. I got up and made sure he had food and water and locked him from our room.

However by then I was too wide awake to fall asleep again. After lying there a couple of hours I got the laptop and visited one of my favorite sites, one devoted to the life and mission of Peace Pilgrim. I find constant inspiration and considerable challenge there. Her philosophy was practical and direct and she lived it daily. Two of her quotes which struck me as I read in the growing grey dawn were:

"Problems that help us grow are really opportunities in disguise. In all things be thankful."

"Never be impatient, all good things take time."

Is panic a form of impatience? Am I using this project as an opportunity for growth, or is it just something to get through so I can get on to the real life waiting down the road? The only moment I have is now, I'll try not to lose it worrying about the what if's. Inner peace was one of the forms of peace she advocated, and one which needs to cultivated as carefully as any exotic orchid.

Last Cabinet Door Hung!

It feels like we climbed K-2! Ian finally managed to get that last cabinet door hung. Can we say hoo-ray?

We (by "we" I mean Ian and Zak) also got four (of eight) mini-blinds hung. They look very crisp and tidy. I made a stab at making the Roman blinds for the front and after doing one have decided I don't like the way they look. I want to see the fabric without folds, so I've come up with a new design. I'll post a picture when I have them hung.

Unfortunately the caulking Zak and I did this afternoon didn't fix the leakage problem. We had another downpour about 7:30 tonight and the roof still leaks. It's hard to say where it's leaking. It's easy to see where the water is ending up, but it must be flowing down a seam until it drips off. ACK!! ACK!! ACK!!

Hopefully tomorrow I'll feel better and have more energy. Just putting one foot in front of the next was work today. Too much walking at the airport last night.

I guess I can say we're down to 58 1/2 jobs now. We're inching toward the goal like lame turtles, but at least we scored a couple of points on the Trailer Gremlins before the day was done.

Sixteen Days and Sixty Jobs to Go

We had a HUGE thunderstorm last night. A big lightening strike took our power out at about 9:30. Good thing I'd bought a flashlight the night before. We left Tony and the cat with a flashlight and crank powered radio and Ian and I drove through pouring rain and flowing water to the airport where Zak was to land at shortly after 10:00 pm.

Zak's plane landed a few minutes early, however, because of the storm planes weren't allowed to approach the gates and deplane passengers, so it was 11:30 before he finally came through the gate. None of us were in bed before 2:00, so we aren't exactly bundles of energy and vitality today.

Worse, the ceiling in the trailer leaked last night, after three rounds of repair. I think we have now found the spot and filled it with caulking, and hopefully we'll have no more water incursions. Otherwise we may be spending the winter in a tin bathtub. To ice the cake the once highly successful ceiling paper has begun to peel away like banana skins. ACK!! ACK!! ACK!! I glued some of it back up, but can't reach much of it. Someone taller will have to do it.

The names we call the trailer keep getting more and more rude.

Today the score is; Trailer Gremlins 10, Home Team 0.

The Vikings are Coming!

The big excitement for the day is the anticipated arrival of son #2 tonight. He's coming in to lend his considerable clout to the project. We wish his significant other, Mandy, was coming with him, but she has deadlines to meet. This is one mother-in-law who feels her son couldn't have found a better life partner than the beautiful, and highly talented, Mandy. We are blessed with wonderful children. They are our wealth, the gifts given to us by a generous and loving universe.

Last night Ian and I shopped. We needed that cabinet hinge and hardware to mount the full-length mirror I bought. (Although that mirror gives me the willies - it's kind of like a fun mirror at the carnival. It makes you look short and fat!) We also needed paint for the exterior stripes, a tarp, shelf brackets, and....oh yeah, MINI-BLINDS!!!

Calgary is a weird city in that the shopping opportunities in our section of the city, mid-town west, are limited. No Home Despot and the RONA is a mini-store, with short hours and a limited selection. So we end up driving to a big Home Depot a long way away. But buddy, when we get there we find what we need. How refreshing!

Today I'm kicking back, so I'll hopefully have the energy to keep up with my favorite Viking the next few days. :)

And the Table....

I couldn't get three images to work in that last post, so here's one of the deep deep blue varathaned dining table. This table's surface was wood patterned melamine, with the pattern worn right off in places. Now it's cool.... :)

A Lifetime of FUN!

Let's document our progress.

Though we both were so tired we didn't get a lot done on Saturday, and we lost Sunday to caring for a sick kitty, we made reasonable progress yesterday. As promised, finally some photos that show we are actually accomplishing something. First a view from the back toward the front, second a view of the kitchen. We'll probably be neater once the construction is finished.

Would you believe none of the cabinet bolts we had bought before to install the handles would work with the new cupboard doors, because they are thinner than the original doors? So we had to go buy more bolts before we could put the handles on the new doors.

We got all the cupboard doors hung and the catches installed except for one, and the only reason we didn't get that done was because we ran out of cabinet hinges. One short. Where that one went is beyond both of us. We turned the place upside down looking for it, without success.

We did some repairs to the banquette seat nearest the door, insulated some more areas and did paint touch ups. Having most of the cabinet doors on makes a big difference in how the trailer looks.

We need several bits and pieces of hardware, so I will try to take a trip in the next day or two and get those things. Merchants now rub their hands in glee when I pull into their parking lot.

Today I'd decided I'd make curtains. I unpacked the sewing machine I bought last Feb or March and have never used. (Okay, tell me I should have checked it out. I know, but I felt good when I bought it and immediately went into a nose dive and didn't feel well for months. It just got pushed into the corner and forgotten.) Hmmmmm, no manual. Not good. But there is fabric in the feed-dog showing it works on all the preprogrammed stitch options and I've been sewing since I was 10 so.... I hook it up, thread it and get a scrap to practice on before I start stitching.

ACK!! ACK!! ACK!! The bobbin simply knots into huge snarls underneath and breaks the top thread. I fiddle, I whine and threaten. No good. It sits there, shiny and new, speaking only Mandarin Chinese while I swear at it in Martian. ACK!!! ACK!!ACK!! What does it want? Only the Mandarin Chinese know.

Now what? My back is breaking in half, one reason I don't sew much. No idea what possessed me to buy this machine. Okay, I do know. I love to sew, but it kills my back. I remember this and think of all the lovely fabric I have - waiting to be made up into something nice. So, I come in to pound out my frustration on the laptop, and consider my options.

Aluminum foil on the windows? Naaa, that's just tooo trashy. This is very light material, gauzy sari stuff, maybe iron-on tape will hold the hems. I can hand stitch the rod channels.

Okay, four hours later. I tried the iron-on tape routine. By the time the iron is hot enough to melt the tape it also melts the fabric. ACK!! ACK!! ACK!!! So I try just pinking the edges and handstitching the rod channel. That's great. It takes two hours for one panel and I have 18 to do. Nope. Think, think, think. Better yet get on the web and surf the Big Box....

Aha! Home Despot has white vinyl mini-blinds cheap like dirt. $60.00 will outfit the whole trailer except for the big front windows. I will hand sew a Roman shade of the koi fabric for those two windows.

Seriously, I'm having way too much fun for one lifetime.

Monday 9:30 am

He's had several small meals, mainly because he tackles me when I get anywhere near the kitchen. He seems to be fine, no untoward events at either end.

He's forgiven me. When I sat in the rocker and picked up my laptop he shoved it away and climbed onto my chest. After three or four minutes sprawled on me he rolled over in my lap, feet up, and blissed out.

He loves to be rocked. It just occurred to me that there's no rocking chair in the trailer. But this is a small (small) tub chair rocker. I think it will fit in the hallway at the back between the two couch/beds. I'll measure today and see. One of the rascal's great pleasures is being rocked, and I'll admit one of my great pleasures is rocking him.

I just reorganized my "to do" list. It's got about 75 items on it, some of which will require significant work. Twenty days to go... I can't even think of a phrase to convey my panic.

10:30 Home again home again Jiggety jig

We're home with the furry baby. He's miffed with us, for abandoning him to those awful people who poked him with needles and locked him in a nasty cage. So we're not getting time of day from him. He's obviously thinking of adopting himself out to another mama and papa.

We're under orders not to feed him until tomorrow morning, and not even to give him water. I picked up his food dishes before we left, because the vet had said over the phone that he'd be coming home with a special bland food to eat for a few days. But she said he could drink right away, so I didn't pick up his water bowl.

When we picked him up she'd changed her mind and said not to give him food or water until tomorrow morning. He didn't hear the instructions, so after checking that there was no food in his dishes he went to his water bowl and drank and drank and drank. So far it doesn't seem to have hurt him. If he was that thirsty I figure he needed it. For that matter he is now begging at the fridge door. He wants food. Maybe a teaspoon of that bland food will be okay. Okay, so I'm not following doctor's orders, I'm caving in to the cat's begging. But I figure he knows how he feels better than she does.

Cross your fingers he doesn't start barfing again.

Boo Boo update 7:30 pm

Boy, I know who has friends. (grin) No one calls when I say I'm sick, but the phone has been ringing off the hook since I posted that the Red Chief is sick. So here's that update I've promised all his concerned hu-man friends.

The vet just called, and:

1. The x-rays show that he doesn't have an obstructed bowel.
   
2. The bloodwork isn't all back yet but he has some mild kidney failure and metabolic acidosis, probably because he's dehydrated from vomiting so much. He will be getting fluids for the dehydration as soon as the bloodwork is complete.
   

The results of the tests for bacterial or viral infection aren't back yet. Those should be back within the next 90 minutes. She will be calling again when she gets those results. I'll post them when they come in.

No Rest for Mama

Today was supposed to be the day we took it easy and tried to recover a bit. Ian and I were both dragging our tails behind us yesterday. We were so tired it was hard to get anything done. We did get stuff done but it took real dedication. Don't ever question if that boy loves his ma and pa. There's no way we could have done this without his help.

But, his VW van desperately needs several hours of maintenance, and he hasn't had any time off for bike-riding or other fun in weeks, so we agreed that today he'd do the needed car stuff and I would do nothing at all.

That changed at 8:00 this morning when our big red rascal baby jumped up on me, woke me up and said, "Mama, kitty be sick."

I got up with him, which was what he wanted, and he ran to the kitchen crying and panting as he ran. He threw up a big hairball, threw up twice more and then ran for the cat box where he cried and tried to do a poop. Within a short time it was obvious he was in great distress, and he was vomiting steadily.

Since he's too big for me to carry and the emergency vet is on the other side of town I called Ian and woke him up. He drug himself out of bed and drove over here. We loaded the cat in his carrier and off we went to the emergency animal hospital.

We waited two hours before we saw the vet. The last 30 minutes of that was in an exam room, where kitty puked (and did worse) on the floor several times. He was distraught over not having a cat box, so he climbed into the garbage can, pulled it over, stuck his head in and pooped on the floor. He won't fit in a garbage can, not one that size anyway.

The vet and assistant informed me that he is a perfect example of the Maine Coon Cat - and yes, he loves to splash in water - which apparently Maine Coon cats are known for.

We had to leave him for tests and observation. As the assistant carried him from the room he stuck his front paws and legs out and reached for me, just as a baby would. "Maaaammmmaaaaaa....." he cried, "Where are they taking me?"

It doesn't bear thinking about. I can't even repeat what she said it might be and it's not because I don't know and understand medical terminiology. He's going to have needles, x-rays, and exams he won't enjoy a bit. There's a crater in my pocketbook but an even bigger hole in my heart! I just want my baby back!

So much for my "restful" day.

A barn; 75 feet by 40

If I had the strength I'd haul myself out to the trailer in the driveway and take pictures of our progress, but I am 100 today, having aged 40 years yesterday. Honestly, who knew that simplifying one's life would require such grinding physical labour? Yesterday was a "purge" day. Where did all this junk come from and why have I been hauling it around all these years???

Thoreau said, "How many a poor, immortal soul have I met well-nigh crushed and smothered under its load, creeping down the road of life, pushing before it a barn seventy-five feet by forty, its Augean stables never cleansed, and 100 acres of land, tillage, mowing pasture and wood-lot! The portionless, who struggle with no such inherited encumbrances, find it labor enough to cultivate and subdue a few cubic feet of flesh."

He didn't address how one rids oneself of the barn and gets down to the subjugation of the flesh. I suppose you could bulldoze, but in this day and age of environmental awareness you have to dismantle anything timber by timber and nail by nail. Your guilt at filling the landfill with usable manure overcomes the temptation to simply pour gasoline over it, throw a match and run like hell.

However, what irks me most is that, despite all this exercise, one thing I haven't shed is weight. You can throw away old clothes and give away extra sets of steak knives, but your fat clings to you like a colony of octopuses, and is just about as attractive. (Don't visualize that, I don't want to damage your tender psyche.)

On a brighter note, the six replacement cabinet doors arrived yesterday. Ian's friend Dean cut them out for us, of beautiful white Russian Birch. (What a generous gift!) Ian sanded and primed them last night. It was a shame to cover that beautiful wood. Had the trailer's interior been *that* color of wood I would have happily left it alone.

We also insulated and covered a 20" x 20" vent in the side of the trailer which served as the air intake for the old propane fridge. Since we are switching to an electric fridge we don't need a 20" x 20" open hole behind it. That should cut down on heat loss in the winter. Knock a huge hole in the side of your house when it's -25 degrees and try to figure out why it's cold inside as well as out!

I'm feeling cozier now. My main worry for this winter was staying warm enough. I don't want to become a senior-sized mom and popsicle during a cold snap mid-January. The Inuit traditionally disposed of their elderly on ice floes. Sometimes their old would go off on their own, looking to catch an ice floe south. That is not our intent!

And In This Corner....

This morning I began pinning the fabric together for the slipcovers. It quickly became apparent that, having no large table to work on, no strength to work with, and a cat who was under the mistaken impression that whatever I was doing was for his amusement, I had bitten off more than I could chew.

RV banquette cushions are called "jack-knife" cushions. This is supposed to refer to the fact that they fold like a jack-knife, but it actually means they are armed with deadly weapons and are willing to use them. We're talking HEFTY FOAM ladies, three five inch thick cushions (one 42" x 24" , two 42" x 10"). They are joined together at the long seams by some kind of secret pact. They fold neatly into a seat and back for your banquette, then unfold swiftly into a mattress if the need arises. This ability to switch identities so effortlessly might be a clue to their true nature, but it never occured to me that they might be more complex than they seem.

Challenge them and you quickly learn that they have been trained in resistance techniques by Ofoama Bin Mattress. I became the hapless victim of their violence when all I was trying to do was make them a nice new suit of clothes! I got the sh*t kicked out of me.

When the bell rang on the first round I had pins in both my thumbs and had pinned one layer of fabric on wrong side out. I had to take it all out, wrasslin' the foam and fending off the cat, who kept making raids to sharpen his claws on the back side of the cushion.

When the bell rang to begin round two I had fortified myself with platitudes about enjoying the moment, not becoming ruffled by adversity etc. etc. I was half way through pinning the long sides together when I found I was pinning one piece on upside down. (This fabric has a nap.) Ding!

I staggered to my chair and sank into it. I glared at the cushions and they glared back. They were primed for a 10 round match and I was already sweating and shaking.

Ding! Round three began with a walk through the yellow pages. Within half an hour I had engaged the services of a professional upholsterer and the cushions were delivered to her workshop. I may have lost a couple of rounds but I won the war.